T Nation

Any Solo Training Powerlifters?

Powerlifting
#1

DOES ANY ONE DO TRAIN POWERLIFTING ALONE AND HAVE YOU DONE A’LOT OF PRGRESS AND INCREASED UR WIEGHTS, PREFORMANCE, WELL I’M FACING THIS PROBLEM RIGHT NOW FROM TOMMOROW SINCE MY PARTNER TIME IS CHANGED AND HE CAN’T STAND POWERLIFTING AND WOULD GO BACK TO HIS BODYBUILDING STUFF.

I COULD STAND THE ISSUE OF JOINING A BIT FAR GYM THAT HAS A RACK UTLEAST EVEN THOUGH IT’S STILL A BODYBUILDING REGULAR GYM, BUT ANY IDEAS ON HOW TO TRAIN HEAVY ALONE AND MAKE PROGRESS, SPECIALLY WHEN IT COME TO HEAVY DEEP SQUATS AND HEAVY BENCH, DUMBLESS, HAVING A SPOTTER TO BACK U UP AND GIVE U A PUSH WITH A HEAVY LIFT SEEMED TO REALLY WORK, SO ANY IDEAS WOULD BE GREAT.

#2

I think if you want any serious answers you are going to need to post with caps lock off, and use the shift key to capitalize letters that begin sentence, as well as the first letter of proper nouns.

#3

English is my second language, my bad for the bad typing post, tried my best.

#4

You can use a cage to spot you on both squat and bench.

You just have to get the safety stops adjusted just right on bench so you touch your chest when arched and the stops when you aren’t.

#5

You can make a lot of progress on your own. There’s tons of strong guys that train alone. Sure it helps to have partners but this can’t be the case for many lifters including myself.

It’s all how serious you take it and how much you wanna get out of it.

It’s your own mind state, and you will learn good discipline training hard by yourself when there’s no one around to impress, to push you further. You learn good mental strength doing all these things by yourself with intensity with no1 to tell you to keep going. You fight the demons in your head to tell you to stop.

That’s why I like to train alone.

I’ve done 405x15 on squats before…all in my power rack. You can make tons of progress, it all depends on what you put in and how bad you want it.

#6

I train for powerlifting alone, haven’t had a training partner for 10 years or so. It’s not ideal, but it works for me. Squats you just do in a power rack with the safety pins at the proper height for yourself. Bench is not too bad, just know yourself and ask someone in the gym to spot you on the ones that you might have a little trouble with. I’ve never seen a guy say no when I asked them to spot me, just be very clear with them how you want them to spot, I’ve had some idiots grab the bar when i was doing fine, just cause it slowed down a bit.

I don’t recommend training alone, and I would love to have a team to train with, but I work full time at night, and am working on my Master’s in the day, so my schedule is all over the place.

I don’t think you can win World’s alone, but I’ve gotten up to a 507 Squat, 350 bench, and 507 deadlift at first competition raw, not great but nothing to sneeze at.

#7

I frequently train alone, and I think it negatively impacts my squats and benches. The guys at the gym don’t know how to spot or give lift offs, and I can’t put a shirt on by myself. I find meets relaxing, as I don’t have to load my own bars, adjust my suit, wrap my knees, etc.

It can be done, but I think it is really important for progress to at least occasionally train with other more accomplished lifters.

#8

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
I frequently train alone, and I think it negatively impacts my squats and benches. The guys at the gym don’t know how to spot or give lift offs, and I can’t put a shirt on by myself. I find meets relaxing, as I don’t have to load my own bars, adjust my suit, wrap my knees, etc.

It can be done, but I think it is really important for progress to at least occasionally train with other more accomplished lifters.[/quote]

OR just train shirtless.

I’ve actually worked out alone enough I don’t find unracking a problem. I can pretty easily unrack as high as my max without seeming to take much out of my lift.

#9

I’ve always trained alone… you can make tons of progress and reach your goals if you have the right mindset… would having a partner help, definitely… however not having one isn’t the end of the world

#10

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
I frequently train alone, and I think it negatively impacts my squats and benches. The guys at the gym don’t know how to spot or give lift offs, and I can’t put a shirt on by myself. I find meets relaxing, as I don’t have to load my own bars, adjust my suit, wrap my knees, etc.

It can be done, but I think it is really important for progress to at least occasionally train with other more accomplished lifters.[/quote]

OR just train shirtless.

I’ve actually workout out alone enough I don’t find unracking a problem. I can pretty easily unrack as high as my max without seeming to take much out of my lift.[/quote]

Yeah, I train shirtless 90% of the time.

Wait, what?

I think height makes unracking alone easier. I’m kind of half midget.

#11

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
I frequently train alone, and I think it negatively impacts my squats and benches. The guys at the gym don’t know how to spot or give lift offs, and I can’t put a shirt on by myself. I find meets relaxing, as I don’t have to load my own bars, adjust my suit, wrap my knees, etc.

It can be done, but I think it is really important for progress to at least occasionally train with other more accomplished lifters.[/quote]

OR just train shirtless.

I’ve actually workout out alone enough I don’t find unracking a problem. I can pretty easily unrack as high as my max without seeming to take much out of my lift.[/quote]

Yeah, I train shirtless 90% of the time.

Wait, what?

I think height makes unracking alone easier. I’m kind of half midget.[/quote]

Pics or it didn’t happen.

I think your bar path is the biggest issue. Mine stays pretty low (for raw) throughout. Hence I can set up closer into the rack without running the danger of hitting it while lifting.

If your grove is more of a “J” where you drift back towards your head more, you have to set up farther from the rack, and it is a lot harder to unrack the weight.

#12

I periodically train alone, and I have made progress, just know your breaking points and know your limits.

The only thing I get out of a spotter is someone to give me a lift off for bench, and someone to yell in my ear when Im grinding out a lift.

Youll get used to it, just hit max doubles and triples for a while.

#13

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
I frequently train alone, and I think it negatively impacts my squats and benches. The guys at the gym don’t know how to spot or give lift offs, and I can’t put a shirt on by myself. I find meets relaxing, as I don’t have to load my own bars, adjust my suit, wrap my knees, etc.

It can be done, but I think it is really important for progress to at least occasionally train with other more accomplished lifters.[/quote]

OR just train shirtless.

I’ve actually workout out alone enough I don’t find unracking a problem. I can pretty easily unrack as high as my max without seeming to take much out of my lift.[/quote]

Yeah, I train shirtless 90% of the time.

Wait, what?

I think height makes unracking alone easier. I’m kind of half midget.[/quote]

Pics or it didn’t happen.

I think your bar path is the biggest issue. Mine stays pretty low (for raw) throughout. Hence I can set up closer into the rack without running the danger of hitting it while lifting.

If your grove is more of a “J” where you drift back towards your head more, you have to set up farther from the rack, and it is a lot harder to unrack the weight.
[/quote]

And also the type of rack you’re working out of - the ones with the big J hooks, I can’t unrack from my competition grip width without losing my arch. The ones that are more of a small lip or angle, I can unrack much more easily.

#14

Mike Tuscherer. That is all.

#15

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
I frequently train alone, and I think it negatively impacts my squats and benches. The guys at the gym don’t know how to spot or give lift offs, and I can’t put a shirt on by myself. I find meets relaxing, as I don’t have to load my own bars, adjust my suit, wrap my knees, etc.

It can be done, but I think it is really important for progress to at least occasionally train with other more accomplished lifters.[/quote]

OR just train shirtless.

I’ve actually workout out alone enough I don’t find unracking a problem. I can pretty easily unrack as high as my max without seeming to take much out of my lift.[/quote]

Yeah, I train shirtless 90% of the time.

Wait, what?

I think height makes unracking alone easier. I’m kind of half midget.[/quote]

Wait, did you just complain about short arms in relation to your bench press?

#16

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
I frequently train alone, and I think it negatively impacts my squats and benches. The guys at the gym don’t know how to spot or give lift offs, and I can’t put a shirt on by myself. I find meets relaxing, as I don’t have to load my own bars, adjust my suit, wrap my knees, etc.

It can be done, but I think it is really important for progress to at least occasionally train with other more accomplished lifters.[/quote]

OR just train shirtless.

I’ve actually workout out alone enough I don’t find unracking a problem. I can pretty easily unrack as high as my max without seeming to take much out of my lift.[/quote]

Yeah, I train shirtless 90% of the time.

Wait, what?

I think height makes unracking alone easier. I’m kind of half midget.[/quote]

Wait, did you just complain about short arms in relation to your bench press?[/quote]

Nope, I complained about them in relation to my unracking. Subtle difference. :wink:

#17

I don’t have any particular training partners, but there always seems to be someone in the gym that can spot my bench presses if need be. Sometimes if I am in the gym at a slower time, there is nobody that I would feel comfortable spotting me with 295 or more, then I just use a weight I feel comfortable with in an 6-10 rep range.

Squats are easily done by yourself with a rack, like others have already mentioned.

Just pick out a bigger guy that you would trust to spot you while benching, I have never seen anyone serious about lifting actually turn me down for a spot. You can maybe meet some new lifting partners that way as well.

BTW I have no experience with shirted benching so I don’t know how rules would apply there.

#18

Everyone has put up some good advice. I also train alone and the squat rack is my friend. I Squat, DL and Bench in the squat rack and make the squat rack your friend as well as others have said.

The only problem I have came across is motivational issues at times. I have made good progress IMO. The most important thing to remember is to ask and network with others with more experience if possible or research like crazy and try different things that may or may not work for you.

I have learned to listen and the term, “trial and error” I have embraced. I finally understood the term “Train smart” and what it actually means to me and how my body responds.

Good luck!

#19

[quote]Hanley wrote:
Mike Tuscherer. That is all.[/quote]

Haha, I was thinking the same thing. He actually wrote an article about solo training.

OP, I have never had a partner, but I do occasionally get spotters or lift-offs from people. I prefer training alone, because I dictate the routine and pace. I am rather bull-headed, so it works out great for everyone. I don’t know how to rate my progress. I would like to be doing a 6/4/6 in competition, but i’m not quite there yet.

#20

I’m also training solo, although I’m barely a powerlifter, so that may not count :wink: The gym I have access to has no power cage or squat rack, and I’m just not crazy about doing squats in the Smith machine. So, I bought my own (used) power cage and bench, which allows me to do squats and bench presses off the pins (adjusted so the bar just touches my chest) to failure if necessary.

The other main exercises are deadlift and military press, neither of which really require a spotter (although I’m sure a little assistance on either might help at times).